Demel

The Demel is one of the most famous Viennese pastry shops at Kohlmarkt 14 in Vienna’s 1st district, Inner City. Demel was a kuk court confectioner and still bears this title today.

In 1778 the confectioner Ludwig Dehne from Württemberg came to Vienna. In 1786 he founded his pastry shop on Michaelerplatz. Dehne died of tuberculosis in 1799. His widow then married the confectioner Gottlieb Wohlfahrt. In 1813 they bought the house at Michaelerplatz 14. Despite numerous innovations such as Gefrorenes, the company’s finances could not be rehabilitated. After the death of Gottlieb Wohlfahrt in 1826, the widow and her son from their first marriage succeeded August Dehnebut again the economic boom. August Dehne made it to great wealth, which he invested in real estate. Since August Dehne’s son pursued a career as a lawyer, Dehne sold the pastry shop in 1857 to his first assistant, Christoph Demel.

Demel was also successful in continuing the company and established a Viennese institution with the confectionery. After Christoph Demel’s death in 1867, his sons Joseph and Karl took over the business, which has since been called "Christoph Demel’s Sons". On request, Demel received the title of purveyor to the court in 1874. The immediate proximity to the Hofburg , directly opposite, made the business even more profitable. From time to time, the Hofburg borrowed staff and tableware from Demel for special occasions such as balls and festivals. Recent developments in the art of confectionery were brought from Paris. Specialists trained at Demel quickly found jobs.

In 1888 the old Burgtheater on Michaelerplatz was demolished and the square redesigned. Demel had to move out of the house and moved to Kohlmarkt 14. The interior of the new shop was fitted out at great expense by the purveyors to the court, Portois & Fix. The interior is in neo-rococo style with mahogany wood and mirrors. Regular customers were members of the Viennese court, such as Empress Elisabeth, and other well-known personalities of the Viennese society of the time, such as the actress Katharina Schratt and Princess Pauline von Metternich. A peculiarity of the Demel from the time of the monarchy is that the female waitress, who was originally recruited mostly from convent students, is dressed in a black costume with a white apron. They are called Demelinerinnen and traditionally address the guest in a special "Demel-Deutsch", which is a form of politeness in the third person plural with omission of the personal form of address and with questions like "Have you already chosen?" or " Wishes to dine?” became known.

After the death of Joseph and Carl Demel, Carl’s widow Maria took over the management from 1891. She also received the Imperial and Royal Purveyor title. From 1911 to 1917 Carl Demel (junior) managed the business and then his sister-in-law Anna Demel. The boxes and packaging were developed by the Wiener Werkstätte under her direction. In 1932, Josef Hoffmann put the artist Friedrich Ludwig Berzeviczy-Pallavicini in touch because of an orderto Anna Demel. At that time, the design of the displays was an important means of expression in the shops and discussions were held as to whether they should be called viewing or shop windows. While the viewing window was understood as an informative presentation of goods, the goods in the shop window were to be enhanced by staging. From 1933 until his emigration in 1938, Berzeviczy-Pallavicini took over the window dressing of the Demel and in 1936 married Klara Demel, Anna Demel’s adopted niece.

During the Nazi regime in Austria, the Demel confectionery received privileges from the Gauleitung because of its good reputation . Baldur von Schirach and his wife placed the Demel confectionery under their personal protection, there were special allocations of gastronomic specialties from abroad in order to be able to continue to exist. But while the two sat in the guest room and consumed cakes, the women from Demeliner looked after the politically persecuted, so-called submarines, in a corridor between the kitchen and toilet. They also listened to illegal radio stations and discussed the latest news.

In 1952, Anna Demel was the first woman after the war to be awarded the title of commercial adviser. She died in 1956. Klara Demel took over the management of the pastry shop. Berzeviczy-Pallavicini, who had lived in the USA until then, returned to Vienna. After Klara’s death on April 19, 1965, he continued to run the pastry shop. During his time at Demel, he established the tradition of creating extravagant, neo-baroque productions from showpieces of the sugar and chocolate craft. Baron Berzeviczy sold the business in 1972 for economic reasons to the undercover Udo Proksch , who set up rooms for Club 45 on the upper floor in 1973 ; Defense Minister Karl Lütgendorf had this to sayhis own salon. After Proksch was arrested in 1989 in connection with the Lucona scandal, he sold Demel to the German entrepreneur Günter Wichmann, who was not familiar with the industry. In 1993 there was bankruptcy. In 1994, Raiffeisenbank -Vienna, as the main creditor, acquired the property from the company’s bankruptcy estate in order to initially continue to run the traditional Viennese company itself via a subsidiary. In the course of the renovations that began in March 1995, wall paintings from the 18th century were uncovered on the fourth floor and the baroque inner courtyard was covered with a glass construction, which has been used as a Schani or winter garden since it reopened on April 18, 1996.

In 2002, the catering company Do & Co took over the Demel. The company was awarded the "Golden Coffee Bean" by Jacobs Kaffee in 1999. The Demel had taken over the Glockenspiel café in Salzburg, which was then closed again. Another branch of the Demel is located in New York City.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demel

Photo: Ungry Young Man